Conventional cameras enable the production during subsequent print processing of prints having views corresponding to the whole fields of view seen through the lens and recorded on the whole film frame at the time of exposure. Telephoto and panoramic prints are produced during normal processing under standard enlargements in accordance with the fields of view seen through telephoto and panoramic lenses used to take the pictures. A tele/pan camera, on the other hand, enables simulated or pseudo telephoto and panoramic prints to be produced from film frame exposures made without the use of corresponding telephoto and panoramic lenses. This is accomplished by coding the film at the time of exposure to identify variations from normal processing to be made subsequently during printing in order to achieve the desired effect. A tele/pan camera can also be used to make normal prints.
An example of a pseudo telephoto mode print is one that is made from a central portion of an exposure having the same width-to-length ratio (e.g., 3 1/2:5) as that of the whole exposure recorded by the camera. During the printing process, the frame negative image is masked at upper, lower, left and right marginal zones, leaving the central portion unobscured to be printed with increased magnification for obtaining an enlargement of normal print size. The enlargement has the same width-to-length ratio as that of the non-masked central portion. Thus, in response to coding the film with a pseudo telephoto mode indicating fiducial at the time the exposure is made, the central portion of the exposure is magnified at the time of printing beyond the usual magnification which would be used to make a normal print for the camera lens employed to take the picture, and the resulting print will have a telephoto or close-up format appearance.
An example of a pseudo panoramic mode print is one that is made from a narrow portion of an exposure having a greater width-to-length ratio (e.g., 1:3) than that of the whole exposure recorded by the camera. During the printing process, the negative frame image is masked at upper and/or lower marginal zones, leaving the narrow portion unobscured. An enlargement is then made of the narrow, non-masked portion to provide a print having the same width-to-length ratio as that of the narrow portion. Thus, in response to coding the film with a pseudo panoramic mode indicating fiducial at the time the exposure is made, the field of view is adjusted at the time of printing to provide a print which has a panoramic or elongate format appearance.
A normal mode print is one that is made from the whole exposure recorded by the camera and has the same width-to-length ratio (e.g. 3 1/2:5) as the whole exposure. The negative frame image is usually left unmasked during the printing process.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,490,844 discloses a method of making a print of a selected portion of a subject to be photographed. The method comprises the steps of viewing the subject in the viewfinder of a camera; manually adjusting a mechanical masking member visible in the viewfinder to frame a selected portion of the subject; exposing the film in the camera to obtain a latent image of the subject; encoding the exposure on the film with indicia representative of the selected portion of the subject; processing the film to obtain a negative of the latent image of the subject; and sensing the indicia to make a print of the selected portion of the subject from the negative.
When the selected portion of the subject has the same relative position in the viewfinder as a corresponding portion of the exposure, enlargement of the portion in the negative will provide a pseudo telephoto effect similar to the actual telephoto effect provided by a telephoto lens. Thus, a pseudo telephoto print can be made during the printing process from an exposure taken without a telephoto lens.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,357,102 discloses a method of making a pseudo panoramic mode print from an exposure. According to that method, a window in the viewfinder of a camera has its upper and/or lower marginal zones masked off by an appropriate insert to provide a viewing area with a width-to-length ratio greater than 1:2, and preferably 1:3. Exposures are taken with the viewfinder window partially masked and, during the printing of the negative, the negative image is correspondingly masked to provide a non-masked portion having the same width-to-length ratio as that of the unobscured portion of the viewfinder window. Printing paper with a similar width-to-length ratio is used. Prints can thus be obtained which have a panoramic or elongate format without using a panoramic lens.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/486,463, filed Feb. 28, 1990 discloses a tele/pan camera including an exposure control system for automatically increasing the shutter speed used for exposure of a selected pseudo telephoto or pseudo panoramic field of view, as compared to the shutter speed automatically selected for exposure at the same lighting of an actual field of view of a camera objective lens, and for automatically compensating for such shutter speed increase by boosting other exposure parameters, such as by increasing aperture size or activating a flash unit.
In known tele/pan cameras, a film frame is coded at the time of exposure with a selected single one of the available pseudo telephoto, pseudo panoramic and normal print mode options. No provision is made for selectively automatically producing multiple mode prints of the same subject.